Yukon Land Claims is commonly thought to have started in 1973 with the presentation of Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow to Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in Ottawa by Elijah Smith and a delegation of the Yukon Chiefs. However, Yukon claims had been put forward as early as 1901 and 1902 when Chief Jim Boss of the present-day Ta'an Kwach'an and surrounding area, wrote letters to the Superintendent General of Indian Affairs in Ottawa and to the Commissioner of the Yukon. Jim Boss clearly outlined the concerns being felt by many of his people in terms of the alienation of lands and resources in their traditional areas and their need to have a say in their own affairs and governance. So it is clear that prior to 1973 Yukon First Nations had long outstanding claims dating back to the time when some of the early effects of the Klondike Gold Rush and development in the Yukon were first being experienced by Yukon First Nations people.
